


The Ninety Ninth Precint

by Fan637637



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Muggle, Alternate Universe - Police, Brooklyn Nine-Nine AU, Captain McGonagall, Everybody Lives, Friends to Lovers, Mutual Pining, Police Detectives, Sergeant Frank Longbottom, Sirius and Remus are canonically gay, Sirius is canonically gorgeous, nypd, that nobody asked for, the
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-11
Updated: 2017-06-20
Packaged: 2018-11-13 00:22:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11173104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fan637637/pseuds/Fan637637
Summary: This is essentially a Brooklyn Nine-Nine AU. It mainly follows the plot of the series with some extra things thrown in. There is no knowledge of the series required i.e. you do not need to have watched B99 to read this fic.





	1. Pilot

‘Sirius?’ Remus turned the corner into an isle lined with televisions to see his partner pulling faces that were shown on roughly ten screens at the end of the isle. ‘What are you doing?’

Sirius turned towards him in a swift motion, his cheeks flared red. ‘I was, uh – ‘

‘Get it together man, all ten of you.’

Sirius flashed a dazzling smile and turned back to an overly-complicated television and began fiddling with some of the buttons.

Remus rolled his eyes and flipped open his notepad. ‘So the store was hit about two hours ago. Perps disabled the alarm – ‘

Remus was cut off as the TV Sirius had been messing with burst into life and _This Morning_ with Phil and Holly began to blare out of speakers across the store.

‘Sorry! My bad!’ yelled Sirius as the store owner came rushing round to see what was happening. Sirius rushed to switch the TV off again. It took him a few seconds but he eventually managed and turned back to face the rather startled owner and a glaring Remus.

The latter turned to the former and continued. ‘I’d like a list of your employees, anyone who could have accessed the store this morning. I’d also like to apologise for my partner. His parents didn’t give him enough attention.’

Sirius stuck his tongue out at Remus who rolled his eyes in return. ‘I think this was a smash and grab.’

‘Well I think it was an inside job. Prove me wrong.’

‘Challenge accepted. The door was forced and the motion sensor was tripped, ergo, not an inside job.’

‘Or,’ returned Remus, smirking slightly, ‘it’s an inside job meant to look like a smash and grab.’

‘Sorry. We’re looking for three white males, one of whom has tatt sleeves on both arms.’

Remus scoffed. ‘And how do you know that?’

‘I had a spy on the inside. He spent years right here, in this sale bin, watching, learning, waiting. His code name is…’ Sirius dramatically revealed a teddy bear from behind his back, ‘Fuzzy Cuddle Bear! And he’s a nanny cam.’

***

‘You got lucky,’ drawled Remus, slamming the door of the car as he and Sirius stepped out at the precinct.

‘Luck is 95% talent, 5% being awesome. No need to be nasty just because you didn’t figure it out, Lupin.’

‘You didn’t figure it out! Oh my God you’re infuriating.’

Sirius winked at Remus and walked away.

***

Frank Longbottom stood at the front of the briefing room, facing his squad. ‘Quiet, please. Hey! Quiet!’ He sighed as the detectives continued to chatter. Just as he opened his mouth to try again, a shout rang out.

‘SHUT UP!’

Immediate silence befell the room and Frank turned to the source of the shout.

‘Thank you, Lily. Open cases – you closed the electronics store robbery?’

‘Patrol picked up all three perps, Sarge.’ Sirius turned to face Remus. ‘Would you like to do the honours?’

Remus rolled his eyes but stood up nonetheless. He walked up to the blackboard behind Frank. He reached up to rub the ‘23’ next to ‘Black’ and replaced it with ‘24’. The other side of the board read ‘Lupin: 22’. ‘Enjoy it while it lasts, Black.’

Sirius laughed. ‘I will!’

‘James? Update on the Morgenthau murder?’ asked Frank, turning the attention away from Remus and Sirius.

‘We didn’t get much from the cleaner – she was the one who found him – just that she has something gross on her chin. Peter thinks it was flan, I think it was pumpkin pie.’

‘How about we focus on the murder, instead of the gross thing on her chin. This will be priority one for the new captain. I worked with her, years ago. Captain McGonagall will be here soon and will want to introduce herself.’

‘Once she’s settled in, I have a report on crime-stat analysis on the precinct for her,’ said Remus.

‘Oh, are you hoping to be put in charge of the Brown Noser Squad, Sergeant Asskisser?’ asked Sirius with a childish glee.

Remus just rolled his eyes, chuckling slightly.

Frank coughed, regaining attention. ‘Put the murder down, guys. Dismissed.’ 

Once the Sergeant left the room, Remus walked over to Sirius, who was now joined by James. ‘have either of you heard anything about the new captain?’

‘No, and we don’t care,’ mumbled James.

‘I wish Captain Dumbledore had never left. He was the best,’ added Sirius.

‘He was the _worst_ ,’ countered Remus, ‘you only liked him because he let you do anything you wanted. I mean, he was completely fine with fire extinguisher roller chair derby.’

‘Ah yes, what a good sport,’ said James, a dreamy look in his eyes.

‘You both nearly killed Lily! No wonder she doesn’t want to date James!’

‘Of course she does.’

‘Anyway, the new Captain will be just as chill, I’m sure of it. She’ll care as much about me wearing a tie as Dumbledore did,’ said Sirius, proudly gesturing to his tie-free neck.

‘Assuming he was adamant you wore it at all times, detective,’ came a harsh, Scottish voice from the doorway, ‘you are correct.’

The three detectives nearly gave themselves whiplash turning to the door.

Stood there was a middle-aged, thin woman with her hair tied in what looked like and impossibly tight bun. She looked away from Sirius, Remus and James to address the whole group. ‘Everyone. I’m your new commanding officer, captain Minerva McGonagall.’ She then turned and left the room.

Remus sniggered, elbowing a gawping Sirius in the ribs. ‘I like her.’

‘Yeah, she’s really suave,’ agreed Marlene from the back of the room, ‘Anyone else get a kind of gay vibe though?’

The rest of the team shook their heads and she shrugged.

***

After making her brief introduction, McGonagall had headed to her office to find Frank where she had told him to wait.

‘Tell me about your squad, Sergeant.’

‘Fabian and Gideon,’ he said, motioning to two ginger men who had just appeared from the briefing room. ‘Twins. Big jokers, pretty much worthless as cops, but they make good coffee.’

A third ginger walked out of the briefing room, followed by Remus, Sirius, James and Peter.

Frank pointed at Lily first. ‘Lily Evans: tough, smart, and scary as hell. Peter Pettigrew: he’s a grinder. Not the best detective, but he works harder than anyone. James Potter: Pettigrew follows him everywhere. He’s a great detective, maybe not our best, but kid’s got a great heart. Remus Lupin: one of our finest. He’s snarky, rude, and swears a lot, but he’s exceptionally kind and is an amazing detective. He and Black have some bet on who gets the most arrests this year. It’s actually increased each of their numbers.’

McGonagall raised her eyebrows. ‘Tell me about Black.’

‘Sirius Black is my best detective. He loves putting away bad guys and solving puzzles. The only puzzle he hasn’t solved, is how to grow up.’

***

Remus, Lily, Sirius and James were standing in a loft, looking around, surrounded by crime scene tape and uniformed cops.

Remus took a break from scanning the room to spare a glance at Sirius. The glance turned into a stare. He couldn’t help it. The man, although a complete idiot, was beautiful. Remus scolded himself silently. Sirius wasn’t stupid, and he knew that. He could just do well to grow up sometimes. For now though, he was completely focused on the task at hand. As positive as that was for the case, it caused serious issues for Remus as Sirius was attractive at any time, but when he was concentrating he became damn-right irresistible. 

***

‘Marlene. In my experience, civilian administrators such as yourself often have their ear to the ground. What do Lupin and Black have riding on this bet of theirs?’ McGonagall looked at Marlene expectantly whilst trying to adjust her office chair to a comfortable position.

‘If Remus gets more arrests, Sirius has to give him his motorbike; it’s his pride and joy. If Sirius gets more arrests, Remus has to go on a date with him.’

‘Okay, thank you, Marlene.’

***

‘My name is Ratko, I don’t know anything.’

James smiled at the man and showed him a picture of Morgenthau. ‘Sorry, Ratko. Just a couple of questions. Do you recognise this man? Henry Morgenthau?’

‘I told you. I don’t know him. I don’t know what happened. No more questions!’

‘Okay,’ said James, the smile slipping from his face, ‘I’ll tell you what happened. He came by and said he had some hams to sell. You knew they were worth a lot so you tried to steal them, only he was home and he fought back, so you shot him. Am I close?’

Ratko stepped backwards, pushed over a display and ran.

James swore and took off after the man. He chased him through the store, dodging multiple food-based missiles thrown his way.

‘I didn’t mean to kill!’ yelled Ratko.

James didn’t get to reply because a giant leg of lamb fell on top of him. ‘SIRIUS! PETER! IT’S HIM!’ James didn’t see what happened next, but he heard a motorbike pull up near the back exit, a door opening, a thud, and a Ratko scream.

***

Remus, Sirius, Peter, Lily and James were sat in a bar and Remus was once again sat wondering how he was friends with these people. Well, no. Lily was great and Peter was always kind, but James and Sirius were two of the most obnoxious people Remus had ever met. As the two men spoke, Remus and Lily made eye contact and shook their heads roughly once every thirty seconds. He pulled his attention back to the conversation when he heard his name.

Sirius was explaining what had happened after James had been taken down by a leg of lamb. ‘So I pull up, Remus clinging to my back like his life depended on it.’

Remus rolled his eyes at the dramatization.

‘So the bike stops and, before I can even think, Remus is off the bike, helmet off and the door is open. I look over and I’ve gotta give it up, Lupin took the man down, hard. Well done.’ He flashed a smile at the subject of the story who sort of smiled back, looking vaguely confused. ‘It was sexy. I was _very_ into it.’

‘Ugh, just when I think you’re being sincere, you ruin everything.’

‘Yeah,’ replied Sirius, ‘it’s kind of my thing.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and welcome to my (poor) Brooklyn Nine-Nine AU fic. This chapter is essentially just setting the fic up, showing which characters in this line up to which characters in the show, hence the fast-paced nature. The show itself does a lot of scene jumps, so expect more changes in scene in this fic than you might in others. I hope you all enjoy!


	2. The Tagger

Sirius was late. Granted, it was only by a minute, but he was late nonetheless and Remus could see that McGonagall was getting annoyed.

The woman looked at her watch for what must have been the fifth time that minute and stood up.

Remus sucked in a breath and but his pen down. He had been doing the paperwork to have a perp processed and out of the holding cell, but the guy wasn’t causing any trouble so he could wait. _Where the hell are you, Black?_ He thought to himself. _This isn’t Dumbledore, she may actually murder you._ He braced himself as the Captain opened her door and walked into the bullpen with purpose.

‘Lupin?’

‘Yes, Captain?’

‘Where’s Detective Black?’

‘I don’t know, ma’am. Maybe his motor bike broke down on the way here? It does that occasionally; he built it himself.’

‘Right.’ McGonagall looked up as someone came in from the evidence room. ‘Potter. Any idea where that friend of yours is?’

‘Sirius?’

‘Yes. He’s late.

‘Sorry, Captain, I don’t.’

Remus looked on with a furrowed brow as McGonagall shrugged and sat at Sirius’s desk. He slowly picked his pen back up, and was about to look away from the scene when he heard the gate leading into the bullpen open. He turned and, sure enough, Sirius was strolling in with his bike helmet slung under his arm.

‘Ah, Captain. You’re at my desk. Just what I want to see first thing in the morning,’ said Sirius, his voice heavily laced with sarcasm.

Remus put his pen down again and put his head in his hands. _Why are you poking the bear, Black?_

‘You’re three minutes late, Black.’   

Remus was the only person listening to the exchange; Frank was typing something on his computer,  James was rifling through a draw in his desk, Lily was in the break room, Peter was out on a case and the twins were in a world of their own.

‘Oh come on, really?’ returned Sirius, ‘I’m a few minutes late so you’re going to call me out in front of everyone?’

McGonagall pursed her lips and set Black with a steely glare.

Remus had lifted his head and watched as Sirius met the glare with a defiant stare of his own. He couldn’t tell who would break first.

‘Good idea.’

McGonagall won, because as she spoke, she held her gaze but Sirius’s brow furrowed and he blinked in confusion.

‘Everyone?’ McGonagall called.

Lily stepped out of the break room, the twins and Frank looked up and James stopped rifling.

‘Gather round, so I can call out Black in front of you.’

‘Okay, fine. I was three minutes late. I’m sorry for doing one thing wrong.’

Remus couldn’t stop himself from snorting, but he tried to disguise it with a cough.

‘Oh, it’s more than one thing.’ McGonagall reached into a folder than had gone unnoticed on Sirius’s desk. From it, she retrieved two photographs. ‘Here are two pictures. One is your locker, the other is a garbage dump in the Philippines. Can you tell which is which?’

Lily and James looked like they were about to burst with glee at the humiliation of their co-worker.

Sirius gave each photo a reasonably thorough examination and hesitantly reached out towards the one in McGonagall’s left hand. ‘That one’s the dump?’

‘They are both your locker.’

‘You should have guessed that one, brother,’ chuckled James, ‘she’s great.’

***

Sirius entered the precinct , guiding a teenager in front of him. He moved the boy to his desk, sat him in the chair next to it, and then sat down himself.

Remus walked out from the break room a minute or so later, carrying to mugs of coffee. He placed one – one coffee, two sugars and milk – down in front of Sirius, and the other – black – he took to his desk. ‘Who have we got here then, Black?’

‘The guy who has been tagging cop cars for the last couple of weeks.’

‘Oh. What’s your name, kid?’

‘Barty.’

‘He won’t give me his full name.’

‘Right. God, it’s hot in here, isn’t it. I’m gonna go put my jacket in the break room, do you want me to take yours, Barty?’

‘Oh, yeah thanks that’d be great. God, Sirius, if only you could be so nice as your colleague here.’ The kid winked, and Remus’s face went extremely red.

The older man shook his head and reached into the pocket of the jacket, producing a wallet. He opened it to reveal an ID.

‘Barty Crouch Jr… shit.’

‘As in Deputy Commissioner Crouch’s son? Shit. Can you keep an eye on him, Remus, whilst I go and speak to Minnie.’

‘I’m definitely okay with that,’ said Barty, without taking his eyes off Remus.

‘I am far too old for you,’ spluttered Remus, face going red once more.

‘You’re hot, Re,’ said Sirius, ‘take it.’ He turned and walked into McGonagall’s office, smirking at Remus’s groan.

‘Captain? I just brought in the guy responsible for tagging the cop cars. Caught him red handed, the only problem is he’s Barty Crouch Junior. We’ve got to let him go, don’t we?’

‘You caught him red handed, defacing police property, why would we let him walk?’

‘If I call it in, the Deputy Commissioner could fire me, and then I’d end up on the streets having to sell my beautiful body for a can of beans.’

‘Hmm. Well, you’re the arresting officer. It’s your call.’

Sirius sighed, knowing the conversation was over, and left the room, thanking McGonagall on the way out.

***

‘Team, I have a problem.’ Sirius stood at the front of the briefing room, addressing the rest of the Nine-Nine. Barty was still sat next to his desk, flirting with Remus. ‘I brought in the perp spray-painting dicks on cop cars, but it’s the Deputy Commissioner’s son. If I call it in, I could be demoted to a grade three detective, how pathetic – no offense Fabian and Gideon – but if I let him go, Minnie is gonna be disappointed in me.’

‘I say you let him go, he’s only acting out. It’s not worth your career,’ said James.

‘But McGonagall would be disappointed, and who knows what she would do, you know how annoyed she was this morning,’ countered Lily.

No one else got to contribute their ides because Marlene came into the room, declaring that there was a rather scary man here to see Detective Black.

Sirius sighed and followed her out.

***

‘Son, what did you do this time?’

‘Nothing.‘

‘There you have it. He said he did nothing.’

‘So I caught him red-handed doing nothing?’

‘I'm saying maybe it's a possibility you made a mistake. You might not understand this, but Barty is a special kid. He makes straight "A"s. He's going to Duke next year. Lacrosse scholarship.’

‘Oh.’

‘Sometimes, boys just need to be boys.’

‘You do realize he did thousands of dollars’ worth of property damage, though, to police vehicles.’

‘Look, I think we can all agree that I'm ordering you to let this slide because nothing happened.’

Sirius closed his eyes and sighed. ‘Okay,’ he conceded. He stood defeated as the deputy commissioner and his son walked out of the precinct.

Remus stood from his desk and walked round to wrap Sirius in a hug.

‘You were caught between a rock and a hard place, mate. McGonagall will deal.’

‘How do you do it, Remus?’ asked Sirius, sounding almost broken.

‘How do I do what?’

‘How do you come in here every day, and do the best job, and make everyone proud, and follow the rules, and do all the boring paper work, and make me coffee, and look out for everyone here, and make so many arrests, and-’

‘Sirius, you’re spiralling,’ Remus interrupted. ‘Sirius, you are an amazing detective. Okay, so maybe you sometimes break the rules, and your work ethic is certainly unconventional, but you are so good at this. You didn’t have a choice.’

Sirius shook his head. ‘No, I did. And I made the wrong one.’ He stepped backwards from Remus and stalked out of the precinct.

***

‘Barty Crouch Junior, you’re under arrest for vandalism and destruction of property.’ Sirius managed to catch the two men only a little ways from the door of the precinct.

The teenager turned his head in surprise.

‘What are you doing, Black? I told you to back off.’

‘With all due respect, sir, I’m doing my job. Your son has broken the law, many times, but has always gotten away with it. Not anymore. I’m sick of the whole boys will be boys excuse, allowing young white men from privileged backgrounds, to do whatever the hell they want. Your son should have thought about his lacrosse scholarship before acting out because he thinks it makes him cool.’

***

 ‘I’m proud of you, Black. You made the right call.’

‘Why, thank you, Minnie.’

‘Black,’ warned McGonagall.

‘Right, sorry Captain. Did you hear anything from Crouch?’

‘I did, Black, yes. He rang me this morning to let me know that he will not be firing you. You will not be receiving any punishment. It has always been an empty threat; he ignored his son’s bad behaviour because he could get him off the hook. What would be the point in punishing you now, Black?’

‘Thank God. I know it probably doesn’t seem like it from what you’ve seen so far, but I really love my job. I’ve wanted to be a cop for as long as I can remember, and I love the nine-nine. James is my brother. I don’t care that we have different parents, he’s my brother in all the ways that matter, and Lily and Peter are two of the kindest people I know. God, and then there’s Remus. Remus is so special, Minnie.’

McGonagall couldn’t even bring herself to reprimand him for the nickname, because she was too shocked by the sudden outburst of emotion from Sirius.

‘James, and Peter, and Lily, and even the twins, I would do anything to try and help them if they were in trouble. I’d break every rule in the book if it meant I could do a good enough job to save them, but Remus… Jesus, I’d die for him in an instant. He doesn’t know that, of course. He thinks I’m insufferable. I don’t know why I care so much about him; we haven’t even known each other for a year, but I do. Please don’t tell anyone I’ve said this.’

‘God forbid the notorious Sirius Black show any human emotion.’

Sirius grinned and winked at her. ‘I’m glad you understand me, Minnie.’

‘What on earth have you gotten yourself into, Minerva?’ McGonagall whispered to herself as the man closed the door behind him on the way out.


	3. The Slump

Remus stared at Sirius across the briefing room with a deep concern etched into his features, and he wasn’t the only one. James and Lily were sharing worried glances across the room and Frank took a moment to look sadly at the man before starting.

‘Okay squad, first off I believe Lupin needs to add another two his score.’

Remus half-smiled at Frank and stood up. As he changed the board to read ‘Black: 31’ and ‘Lupin: 38’, everything felt odd as no snarky comment came from his rival.

‘Good work Lupin,’ continued Frank, ‘Gideon, where are you up to on digitizing old police reports?’

‘Slow but steady progress, Sarge.’

‘Okay, keep it up. Potter, Lupin, good job on the drug bust. That’s a major dealer off the streets with known connections to even larger suppliers. The D.A. called to congratulate you two on it. Dismissed.’ Frank left the room, leaving the rest of the squad to turn questioning glances to Sirius.

Remus sighed and stood up. He crossed the room and sat backwards on the chair in front of Sirius’s table so he could look the man in the eyes. ‘What’s up, Black? You haven’t closed a case all week.’

Sirius shrugged. ‘I’m working on it.’

James appeared at Remus’s side and crouched down. ‘We’re just worried, Sirius mate.’

‘He’s in a slump,’ came Marlene’s voice from the back of the room.

‘I am not in a slump!’ returned Sirius indignantly, suddenly sitting up.

‘He’s in a slump,’ Marlene repeated, shrugging.

‘I am not!’

‘Sirius, darling, you thought you’d solved that case with the unidentified old woman the other day, but the ‘son’ you brought in didn’t know her. All that Remus needed to do was get her ID from her pocket when she hugged him! You spent all day on that!’

Sirius glared at Marlene for a few seconds before huffing and planting his head on the table in front of him because, well, she was right. He _was_ in a slump.

‘It’s okay, brother, you just need to find an easy case, solve it, and then you’ll be back to catching serial killers in no time,’ said James.

‘I mean, that unidentified old lady case was pretty-’

‘MARLENE!’ Cried Remus, a disbelieving expression on his face. ‘Seriously?’ He nodded to Sirius who was completely slumped in defeat on the table. He loved Marlene, he really did, but the girl had absolutely no tact, and Sirius wasn’t the most confident in himself to begin with.

‘It’s okay, Lupin,’ Sirius’s voice was muffled by his arms but Remus could hear how crushed he sounded, ‘She’s right.’

Remus through a desperate glance at James who just shrugged sadly. He then rubbed his hand over his face and took a deep breath. ‘Can I have a moment to talk to Detective Black alone, please?’

No one replied, but everyone stood and left.

‘What do you want, Lupin?’

‘I want to know what’s wrong, _Black_.’ Remus sighed, hating his semi-constant sardonic tone. Sirius just brought the worst out in him sometimes. He tried again. ‘I’m genuinely worried, Sirius. Is there something that has brought all this on? Something I can do to help?’

Sirius finally sat up and looked Remus in the eye. ‘Nothing’s brought it on, I’m just a fuck up. I should have listened to my mother; the harpy was right about me.’

Remus didn’t know how to respond. He knew that the Blacks weren’t exactly what one would call a loving family, but Sirius had never actually spoken about them.

‘My family… they aren’t nice people, Remus, by any stretch of the imagination, but they’re my family, you know? I always thought that someday I might actually make them proud of me. But even when I made it into the academy, my mother told me I wasn’t worth their time, that I would never make it as a cop. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to be – a cop – and she tried to take that away from me. It was only a matter of time until this happened, only so long until I flopped.’

‘You haven’t flopped, Sirius, you’ve just hit a bump in the road. It will pass.’

‘But what if it doesn’t? What if I just continue to fail, until eventually everyone gives up on me: Minnie, Frank, The Potters… even you.’

Remus ignored the way his heart was pounding in his chest as Sirius looked at him with such an earnest expression. Sirius needed a friend right now, not some guy with a silly crush reading into his words.

‘None of us are giving up on you. I swear it. Come on, we’ll find you an easy case.’

***

‘Black? Could you come into my office?’

Sirius shot Remus an alarmed look over their computer monitors before he stood and walked into McGonagall’s office.

‘Take a seat, Black. I’ve brought you in here as I’m concerned by the height of the pile of open cases on your desk. You are not to take on a new case until this pile has at least begun to diminish.’

‘But Captain-‘

‘That’s an order, Black. Get back to work.’ .

***

Sirius was bored. Remus had been called out on a raid, but McGonagall had banned Sirius from going, claiming it would be dangerous to have him there in his current mood. Instead, he was going back through old cases. His eyes were irritated and his back hurt. He sighed as he came to the end of another case file with no new ideas and slammed it closed. He was well and truly in a slump. He took a shaky breath before he moved on to the next file. This was a missing person case: 87 year old Marion Duckworth, called in by her grandson Robert.

Ten minutes later, Sirius was about to close this file too, when something caught his eye and caused a slight niggling in his brain. Something about this case didn’t add up. He flicked back through a few pages before the idea finally appeared full-force. Grabbing a piece of paper from his desk, he scribbled down some names and numbers.

‘Evans?’

The red-head looked up and raised her eyebrows. ‘Yes?’

‘Could you get Robert Hobson from the missing grandma case to come in? I have a hunch, and if I’m right, the slump is over. I have some other calls to make.’

***

‘Why am I here, detective?’

Sirius smirked at the man. ‘I know what happened to your grandmother’.

If it weren’t 100% certain already that this man was up to no good, it was after he went still at the mention of his ‘grandmother’.

‘Oh?’ he asked, shakily.

Sirius only smiled coolly in return. ‘Nothing.’

‘What are you talking about?’

‘The reason I couldn’t find her is because she never existed. I made some calls and it turns out you’ve done this before. Five missing persons reports in five different states.’

‘What are you accusing me of?’

‘Probably insurance fraud. Definitely filing a false report and obstruction of justice. You, sir, are under arrest.’

***

Remus returned to the precinct to find Sirius grinning wildly at him. He mentally cursed himself as the sight caused his heart to beat faster: a happy Sirius Black was, when his misfortune hadn’t caused the glee, one of Remus’s favourite sights. ‘What’s got you so excited?’

‘The slump is over! Black is back.’

‘Back to being as insufferable as ever?’ asked Remus with a smirk.

Sirius fought hard to keep his smile steady at Remus’s words. ‘Yeah, something like that.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lol just realised I still haven't introduced myself. Yo, y'all, I'm Cat, I'm 16 and I live in England. Thank you to everyone reading this fic, leaving kudos and even comments. Much love, y'all.


	4. Chapter 4

James was what some people might call ‘sneaking’ around the bullpen, trying to avoid being seen by Sirius who was in the midst of an ultimately one-sided argument with a vending machine in the break room. In his hand he held five small pieces of paper, each holding the same message: ‘ _Meet me in the evidence room in 5. Don’t let on to Black. –Potter’._ He slowly worked his way over to Lily’s desk and dropped the first piece in the folder she was reading.

Lily shot a questioning glance at James, worried that this was some weird attempt to get with her.

In response, James simply held a finger to his lips and moved on to his next message recipient.

Peter met the message with a far more enthusiastic attitude. He was always excited to be in on something with James, especially when Sirius wasn’t involved. He didn’t dislike Sirius; he just hated being the third wheel with the two best friends.

Marlene stood up straight away and walked to the evidence room, happy to have any excuse not to do work. She hated paperwork.

Frank simply raised one curious eyebrow at James who, in reply, pulled a second piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to the sergeant. It read ‘ _Come on sarge, just trust me.’_ Frank rolled his eyes but nodded nonetheless.

James turned to his last target.

Remus was dutifully typing at his computer, completing the paperwork on his most recent case when James appeared at his side. He furrowed his brow when James threw a slightly panicked look towards the break room and sighed in relief when he saw that Sirius was still caught up in his altercation with the vending machine. ‘What’s going on, Potter?’

James placed the final message on Remus’s desk and sauntered away just as the yelling in the break room stopped. He was sat back in his seat by the time Sirius emerged, breathing heavily but with a victorious grin on his face and a Snickers bar in his hand.

After a couple of minutes, James stood up. ‘Oh look! This case is talking about a piece of evidence! I suppose I had better go to the evidence room if I want to solve it!’ he exclaimed dramatically, impressed by his own acting skills. Sirius wouldn’t suspect a thing.

The roll of both Lily’s and Remus’s eyes suggested that perhaps James didn’t have quite the flare for acting he believed he had.

‘What was all that about?’ asked Sirius, leaning to the side of his computer to look at Remus.

Remus shrugged. ‘Probably some master plan to make Evans fall in love with him. Or, he’s just being James.’

‘Sounds about right,’ chuckled Sirius before returning to his work.

Peter was the next to go, able to slip away knowing that Sirius wouldn’t really care where he was off to. He knew that Sirius would always be suspicious of the others but he trusted Peter to just do his job.

Lily knew she couldn’t just follow after James without Sirius getting any wrong ideas. She texted Marlene, knowing the woman would be on her phone, and asked her to call her. Lily’s phone started ringing and she let it go on for a few seconds, just enough so that she knew Sirius had heard it and picked up. ‘Hello? Oh hi! Sorry what? I think there’s something wrong with the signal my end, give me a moment.’ She stood up and started to meander towards the evidence room, occasionally pretending to check if Marlene could hear her.

Remus couldn’t help but roll his eyes at her too. Granted, it seemed like a genuine phone call, but he just didn’t see the need. Sirius wasn’t that observant and wouldn’t really have noticed any of them leaving. Remus leaving, on the other hand, he couldn’t miss. They sat opposite each other. It still didn’t require any ridiculous acting though. ‘Sirius?’

‘Hmm?’

‘If McGonagall needs me can you tell her I’m in the evidence room?’

‘Yeah, sure.’

‘Thanks.’

He stood from his desk and headed to join the others.

James smiled when Remus entered the room. ‘Right then, we’re all here.’

‘What’s this about, Potter?’ asked Lily, evidently not appreciating being taken away from her job.

‘Sirius. It’s his birthday on Friday and we need to throw him a party.’  

Remus was taken aback. He couldn’t believe that he didn’t know it was Sirius’s birthday so soon. He was surprised that the man had never mentioned it.

‘Right, I forgot. Glad you reminded me, I still need to get him a present,’ said Lily.

The rest of the group muttered similar things, all gasping that they had forgotten.

Remus couldn’t help but feel slightly put out by the fact that he was the only one who wasn’t aware that it was Sirius’s birthday. Maybe Sirius didn’t want him to know; maybe he was hoping that they’d all go out for drinks and not have to invite Remus because he didn’t know. He suddenly felt slightly sick.

‘So,’ continued James, completely unaware of the miniature crisis Remus was having, ‘I was thinking a surprise party at Shaw’s? Just the squad, some drinks and a laugh?’

There was a chorus of agreement from everyone but Remus who was only half-listening.

James didn’t seem to notice his colleague’s silence and proceeded to dismiss the group. He was about to leave the room himself when Remus called his name.

‘James?’

‘Yeah?’

‘Are you sure that Sirius would want me there?’

‘What? Of course he would!’

‘He didn’t tell me it was his birthday. Maybe he was hoping you guys could go out without me?’

‘Remus, Sirius is obsessed with you. It’s really annoying. He’ll want you there.’

‘He’s obsessed with me?’

‘Yeah. He doesn’t like not being liked, and he thinks that you just put up with him. He’s obsessed with getting you to like him. That’s why if he wins the bet, you have to go on a date with him; he wants to prove he’s not an asshole.’

‘Oh. Well the date just made me think he was making fun of me for being gay so it kind of did the opposite. It just made me think he was a proper Straight Boy™ looking to embarrass me.’

James let out a proper laugh, head thrown back and whole body shaking.

‘What?’

‘He’s gay Remus. So very gay. Oh that’s priceless. How did you not pick up on that?’

‘Oh my God. I guess I always just assumed he was making fun of me. But I’ve never disliked him, he doesn’t need to worry.’

‘We’re not that kind of precinct, Lupin. The Nine-Nine would never mock you for your sexuality. Come on, let’s get back to work.’

When Remus got back to his desk, he smiled a genuine smile at Sirius and opened a new tab on his browser. Paperwork could wait; he had a birthday present to buy. The google search bar stared at him mockingly. He had no idea what to get Sirius. He tried to picture the man away from work, what would someone like Sirius Black want for his birthday? All he saw when he thought of Sirius was his bike, a cigarette and that old leather jacket he wore. _That’s it!_ Remus took one look under their desks and his memory was proven true: Sirius's leather jacket had definitely seen better days. It looked fairly cheap as well, which Remus supposed made sense: if you’re building a motor bike from scratch, most of your budget is going to go into parts and equipment. He shot James a quick message asking what he was getting Sirius for his birthday to check the man wasn’t already one step ahead. James was getting a bottle of old, quality scotch – the really good stuff – and a Bowie t-shirt. It was decided, then. Remus was getting Sirius a new leather jacket.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the way, I'm fundraising for a trip to Swaziland and Mozambique next year with World Challenge. If anyone wants to donate to my PayPal - catletley@gmail.com - that would be really cool! Let me know if you want more information as to what I'll be doing! xoxo


	5. Major Crimes

Remus walked out of Captain McGonagall’s office, dropped a huge case file on his desk and practically collapsed into his chair, letting out a huge sigh as he did so. 

‘You okay?’ 

Remus looked at Sirius. ‘I’m so close to finished with this murder case. I have all I need to pin it on the victim’s wife except from one thing.’

‘What?’

‘The murder weapon.’

‘Ah. Kind of crucial in a murder investigation.’

‘Unless I can somehow get her to confess without anything other than circumstantial evidence, I’m screwed.’ 

‘Do you want me to help? I’d be happy to.’

‘You realise you’re still behind in our bet, wouldn’t you rather speed ahead with some easy solves?’

‘I do realise that, but I can also see that this case has got you down and out. I made the bet with you because you’re actually a worthy competitor. It’s no fun if you’re like this.’

‘Okay. Let’s do it. Let me catch you up.’ Remus opened the file and handed it to Sirius. ‘Meet Fred Gorman: Prominent citizen, lawyer, corpse.’ He reached over and flipped the page.‘Now meet his wife, Ann Hoert. She didn’t take his last name, but I believe she did take his life.’

‘Nice.’

‘Thank you. The family is close to the mayor and McGonagall says I’m getting pressure from higher up.’

‘We’ll find the weapon.’

***

Remus and Sirius arrived at the apartment block of the late Mr Gorman a little after lunch time. It was an old building, constructed back before the city became a hub of neon lights and synthetic cultures. It sat on the corner of two streets so perfectly aligned it was as though they had been planned on an excel spreadsheet. Remus knew better than to actually think that, of course. He knew that the city was old. The stories of residents past dance upon the winds and tangle in the trees. People bustle about; they come and go, but the city remains. Remus is sure that this particular apartment block will still be standing long after he is gone. 

‘Pretty impressive, huh?’ breathed Sirius, looking up at the building with an expression of overwhelming awe that Remus knew matched the one portrayed by his own features. 

Remus swallowed, then nodded, then spoke. ‘Let’s go. We should speak to the doorman, see if he knows anything.’ 

***

‘I know we’ve gone over this before, but I have to ask you again: Is there anywhere you can think of in that hallway where a knife could be hidden?’ Remus spoke with a vague air of apprehension as they doorman had been irritable last time round, and was sure to be even more aggravated by a second questioning.

‘Well, since I’ve already told you, like, three times, no, why don’t I just record it? Then I don’t have to say it again. The hallway, like all other hallways, does not have a secret knife-hiding place. Now, excuse me but I have a job to get back to.’

Remus stepped to the side to allow the doorman to walk between him and Sirius. ‘I guess we’ll have to speak to the neighbours again?’

‘Ugh, I hate going door to door, you always meet weirdos.’

‘Oh come on, it’s not that bad.’

***

When the fifth door they knocked on opened to reveal a naked pensioner, Remus was well and truly ready to retract his previous statement and agree with Sirius; going door to door was the worst. 

‘Oh boy,’ murmured Sirius, breathing in sharply at the sight. 

‘Well, hello. I heard you guys were making the rounds again.’

‘All right, this one’s all you tiger!’ said Sirius, patting Remus on the back and making a quick escape. 

‘Come on!’ complained Remus before turning back to the woman standing in the doorway.

***

Sirius stopped a little ways around the corner and knocked on another door. Another woman answered, but she was – thankfully – fully clothed. And holding a baby. ‘Hey ma’am-’

‘Thank God! Here, hold this. The lasagne’s burning.’ She handed the baby over to Sirius who received it with a very affronted expression. 

There was a scratching of claws on hardwood and an Irish Red Setter appeared at the door.

‘Get the dog.’

Sirius moved to grab the dog as it walked around him when the woman spoke again.

‘But don’t let it touch the baby!’

Sirius mouthed ‘what the fuck’ to himself rather violently, utterly bemused by the situation he had somehow found himself in. He heard footsteps and turned to see Remus round the corner. The taller man looked Sirius straight in the eye and burst out laughing. ‘Shut up and grab the damned dog, Lupin.’

Remus didn’t stop laughing but he grabbed the setter nonetheless. 

The baby was crying in Sirius’s arms, the mother was nowhere to be seen, the dog was growling at Remus and then Sirius’s phone rang. 

‘Door duty isn’t that bad, huh?’ 

Remus rolled his eyes. ‘Just answer the phone.’

Sirius glared at his colleague before fishing his phone from his pocket and accepting the call. 

‘Black,’ started Lily without greeting, ‘I looked over the photos of Remus’s victim on your desk. The puncture wounds are similar to a case I had a while back. They aren’t from a knife. I think it’s from something spiral, like a corkscrew.’

The baby started to cry louder so Sirius shushed it. 

‘Don’t shush me!’ came Lily’s indignant voice over the line. 

‘No, no, I’m holding a baby.’

‘What the hell?! How does that even… Uh oh. You better get back here.’ 

‘What? Evans, what? What happened?’ he pulled the phone away from his ear and realised that she had hung up. 

‘What’s going on?’

‘I don’t know, but Evans says we should get back to the precinct.’ 

Remus ushered the dog back inside and Sirius carefully put the baby down once the dog was safely behind a gate. They closed the door on the entire ridiculous situation and left the building. 

When Remus and Sirius returned to the Nine-Nine, Sirius immediately saw what Lily had been worried about. ‘No! No. No. No, no, no!’ He slammed his way into the bullpen and crossed it to stand in front of the bastard who had screwed over he and James throughout their entire time at the academy, and continued to from Major Crimes. 

‘I don’t know why you’re so upset, Black. I’m the one who had to come to this backwater stink hole.’ 

‘Can it, Snape,’ said Remus from behind Sirius. He then stormed into McGonagall’s office, Sirius following behind. ‘Captain, please don’t let him take over my case!’ 

McGonagall clasped her hands together and placed them on her desk. ‘Major Crimes is stepping in, nothing I can do.’ She frowned and sighed. ‘You’re off the case.’

‘Minnie! I can’t believe you’re just rolling over and giving Remus’s case to Snape! All he does is swoop in when a case is almost solved, solve it, and take the credit!’

‘First of all, Major crimes has jurisdiction over any and all cases they want to take. Secondly, it’s Captain McGonagall to you, Detective Black.’ She turned her stern glare back towards Remus. ‘Turn over your files to Detective Snape.’ 


	6. The Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a little bit of a n g s t

Sirius came into work on Friday to find that the only member of the squad in the office was Remus.

‘Morning, Black.’

‘Morning, Lupin. Where is everyone?’

‘Marlene is sick. James and Peter are on a stakeout until this evening. Lily is attending a weekend seminar upstate and the Captain gave her permission to head up early. Gideon and Fabian are on a training course and McGonagall and Sarge are meeting with some board about a youth engagement project.’

‘Busy day for the Nine-Nine then?’

‘Yup. It’s taken a while for calendars to line up what with the new Captain and by the time she realised that you and I would be the only two detectives here, it was too late.’

‘Right. Well I’ll let you get back to what you were doing. Coffee?’

‘Please.’

Sirius smiled and walked into the break room. As he started making the coffees his smile faltered. It wasn’t as if he’d ever made a big deal of his birthday; his mother had in fact turned it into a rather atrocious event for the entirety of his childhood and he was fine for it to be a very low-key thing these days, but he was a little bit disappointed that he wouldn’t be seeing James all day. The stupid git hadn’t even sent him a ‘happy birthday’ text. He sighed and shook his head; James was busy, he’d call him later. He finished up the coffees and walked back into the bull pen.

‘Brilliant. Thanks, mate.’

‘Yeah, no worries.’

‘God, it’s quiet in here.’

‘Yeah. We don’t even have any perps in holding.’

‘I’m sure the officers will bring in some soon and we’ll be praying for this moment of silence,’ Remus chuckled before taking a sip of his coffee. ‘Mm. Honestly, everyone round here says that the twins make the best coffee, but they’re wrong.’

‘Yeah, well you’re the only person here I make coffee for. No one else has experienced my skill.’

Remus cursed himself as he felt his cheeks heat up at Sirius’s words; it didn’t mean anything. Their desks are joined. That’s why Sirius makes him coffee. ‘Ha. You got any fun cases going on today?’

‘Nope. I’m pretty much just doing paperwork all day I think. How exciting.’

Remus internally grimaced. He felt awful that Sirius had to do only his least favourite part of the job on his birthday, especially considering no one was there to celebrate with him. Of course, no one – other than Frank and McGonagall – was where Remus had said they were; the rest of the squad were working in a different office for the day to allow for the surprise that evening. ‘Same here. You’d have thought that there’d be _something_. Hey, do you feel like knocking off early later? We could go to Shaw’s for a drink? It is Friday after all.’

Sirius practically beamed at Remus who had, unknowingly, given Sirius the best birthday present: a reason to spend time together outside of work. ‘I’d love to. I doubt we’ll be missed here; the night-shift workers will be here by the time all the drunk and disorderlys are brought in.’

‘Great.’

***

Sirius and Remus worked reasonably quietly for the rest of the day. Some perps were brought in, but not many, and none of them caused any fuss.

At four o’clock, the two men left the precinct and headed to the basement bar that had become the Nine-Nine’s regular drinking hole.

Remus pulled his phone from his pocket to let James know that they were on their way.

‘I’m so glad you suggested this right now. I need a drink.’

Once again, Remus experienced a small, guilty, internal grimace. As much as Sirius would be happy in a few minutes, it wasn’t a nice feeling knowing that the man thought all of his friends had forgotten him on his birthday. ‘Yeah, me too,’ he replied, as nonchalantly as possible.

***

‘SURPRISE!’

Sirius’s face lit up as he realised what was going on and then he burst out laughing and rushed forwards to hug James.

‘Happy birthday, brother. Don’t worry, we didn’t forget you.’ James handed over gift wrapped in princess wrapping paper.

‘I genuinely began to think you had forgotten. I was getting ready to tell your mum and have her be mad at you.’

‘Sorry mate, but we figured this would be better than just some minimal crap at the precinct before we actually had to get to work.’

Sirius nodded in agreement.

‘Right, old man. I’ll get the first round in. Leave that for a minute – we’ll do presents later – and get to celebrating!’ James sped away to the bar, leaving Sirius to greet his other friends.

Lily and Peter both met him with enthusiastic ‘happy birthday!’s. Marlene pulled him into a hug and shoved a small gift into his chest. The twins both thanked him for giving them an excuse to leave work early. Frank greeted him with a manly fist bump and McGonagall didn’t look quite so stern as usual.

Sirius looked around to find Remus and frowned when he saw the man leaned against a wall, a little ways from the group, looking a little forlorn. He edged his way past Marlene and Lily to stand in front of the taller man. ‘Hey.’

‘Hey.’

‘Are you okay?’

‘I’m fine.’

‘You’re not though, are you?’

‘Honestly, Sirius, I’m fine. Go enjoy your party.’

‘Why aren’t you enjoying my party?’

Remus looked at the ground.

‘What? What is it?’

‘I just wasn’t sure you’d want me here. You didn’t tell me it was your birthday.’

‘I didn’t think you’d care.’

‘Oh.’

‘I mean, I know I bug the hell out of you, and I didn’t realise we were really friends. That sounds awful. I just mean, like James and I, we’re brothers. We’ve been friends for years. Lily and I were at the academy together. I’ve known Peter and Marlene since before I became a cop. Gideon and Fabian know basically everything there is to know about the precinct, apart from the stuff they need for their jobs. Essentially, what I’m trying to say is, I didn’t tell you because you didn’t have a reason too already know, and if you don’t have a reason to already know, why would you care?’

‘Oh.’

‘Remus, I-’

‘No, Black, it’s fine. I get it. Look, I’m tired. I’m gonna go home, but here.’ He handed Sirius his present. ‘There’s a gift receipt in there if you want to return it. Go enjoy your party.’ With that Remus walked away from the conversation and our of the bar.

Sirius watched him go, feeling vaguely sick. He shook his head to clear it, walked back towards the rest of the group, placed the gift from Remus with the rest of the unopened presents and gratefully took the shot James was holding out to him. If anything could get the night back on track, alcohol was it.


	7. The Aftermath

Despite The Remus Incident, Sirius had actually had a great time with his friends. He’d probably had far more to drink than he should have had, but it was definitely up there with the best birthdays he’d had.

James’s present was the second best he received all night – the guy really knew him. Lily had gotten him some new mirrors for his bike, the twins had presented a cake baked by their sister, Peter had bought him a couple of vinyls, Marlene gave him a framed picture of her face (signed), Frank gave him a pair of sneakers and McGonagall had bought him a tie. The latter he understood was less of a present and more of a message but he appreciated it nonetheless.

But none of those were the best. The best present came from the person to whom he had said they weren’t really friends. Sirius had waited until he got home to open Remus’s present and, while he would never admit it to anyone, it made him tear up a little. The jacket was beautiful. It fit him perfectly and was far more comfortable than his old one. He also knew that it must have cost a hell of a lot more than his old one. Remus had gotten him such a thoughtful gift, and he’d been utterly thoughtless.

He thought about texting the man all weekend, even going so far as to start typing more than once, but he always changed his mind. He’d fucked up and knew he needed to apologise in person which is why he was practically vibrating with anticipation as he made his way into the precinct on Monday morning. Sirius had never been the best at apologising. He had absolutely no idea what to say in this case. Although what he had said was kind of mean, it wasn’t entirely untrue. He and Remus weren’t really friends. Sure, they were friendlier than most other people are with their colleagues, but that’s just how it is in a police precinct. The people you work with could someday be responsible for your life; it makes sense that you’d be close.

Granted, there was the competition, which could be mistaken for banter between friends, but it really had started out as a proper competition. Sirius had been at the precinct for longer than Remus, and felt threatened by the guy when he showed up. He had been sure that under all that gorgeousness and snark, there was someone actually out to get him. When he learned that most certainly wasn’t the case, he had already said enough to make Remus resent him, which is why he suggested the competition after a few months of trying to get the guy to like him. He really wanted to win so that they could _become_ friends, not because they already were.

So no, Sirius had absolutely no idea how to go about this. Should he take back what he said? Should he try and explain himself again? Or should he just apologise in a more vague manner and hope that was that?

‘Morning.’

Sirius had been so busy thinking that he had barely noticed he had reached his desk and the greeting startled him. When he realised who had spoken, he was even more shocked.

‘Er, morning, Remus.’

‘You like the jacket then, I take it?’ he asked, staring at the mentioned article.

Sirius could tell that Remus was genuinely asking if he liked the gift, even if he tried to hide it with an air of nonchalance.

‘I love it. It’s perfect, Remus, thank you.’

‘You’re welcome.’ There was a hint of a smile on his face as he spoke.

‘Look, Remus, I’m really sorry about Friday night.’

‘No, it’s completely fine. I overreacted. I thought about what you said and I do actually understand what you mean. I had no reason to need to know, you had no reason to tell me, and I never asked. Friends who don’t just get on because they’re colleagues ask that kind of crap about each other.’

Sirius couldn’t believe it. He knew that Remus wasn’t irrational, but he hadn’t expected it to be that simple. ‘Oh. So, we’re good then?’

‘Yes, Sirius, we’re good.’

‘Good.’

Remus smiled again, properly this time. ‘I’m impressed to see you’re wearing a tie.’

‘Yeah, well, the Captain got it for me and I don’t want to disappoint my darling Minnie.’

‘Your darling Minnie?’ repeated Remus disbelievingly.

‘Yes. She’s my one true love, my soulmate.’

‘One minute you wish Dumbledore was still here, and the next she’s your soulmate?’

‘Love is a strange thing.’

‘You’re gay, Sirius.’

‘Oh yeah, right. Okay so maybe we’re not soulmates.’ He looked up towards McGonagall’s office and held his hand to his chest emphatically. ‘In some other life, my darling.’

Remus couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

Sirius smiled. He loved Remus’s laugh, especially when he was the cause of it. ‘I really do love the jacket, Lupin, thank you. It was my favourite gift, but don’t tell James that.’

‘Wow! I beat out James Potter in Sirius Black’s opinion, this is a first.’

‘It’s not.’

‘What?’

‘It’s not a first. You beat James at a lot of things.’

‘Oh yeah? Like what?’

‘I’ve said it before, Remus, and I’ll say it again. You’re hot. Hotter than James.’

Remus’s eyes widened and he blushed. This was the first time Sirius had said something like that when Remus knew he wasn’t just making fun. ‘Oh my God.’ He put his face in his hands as he felt his cheeks continue to redden.

‘Woah! What happened to the trademark eye-roll?’

‘I always thought you were mocking me for being gay!’

This time is was Sirius’s turn to widen his eyes. He knew exactly how awful it was to be mocked for your sexuality and couldn’t believe that he’d made Remus feel like that. ‘Oh my God, Remus. I’m so sorry. I should have noticed that it was making you uncomfortable. I’m so, so sorry.’

‘It’s fine. I soon realised that you were a far better person than most and I got over it. I never really disliked you.’

‘Well shit. There’s a lot we don’t know about each other, huh?’

‘Sure seems like it. Oh well, we don’t need to know everything to do our jobs.’

With that statement Sirius could tell that a) the conversation was over, and b) Remus was still slightly bitter about what had happened on Friday. But that was fine because Sirius could cope with bitterness, so long as they were back to – relative – normal. ‘I’m going to make a coffee. Do you want one?’

‘No, thank you.’

Sirius smiled tightly and willed himself to believe that it was fine. _Just because he doesn’t want a coffee, doesn’t mean he hates you._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! I hope you are enjoying this fic. I'm doing some fundraising and would really appreciate it if anyone could have a look at this link: https://www.gofundme.com/c4vz3h-my-world-challenge xoxo


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